Hide.me
Hide.me
Pro
- Free version available
- Certified protocol-free
- Up to 5 simultaneous connections
- Broadest range of protocol support on the market
Contra
- The number of server locations is rather low
- Expensive
It was developed by individuals with extensive experience in online security at the government level. The hide.me network is simply unable to log any information. This, along with the widest range of protocol support on the market, makes hide.me the best choice if you are looking for the highest level of online privacy possible.
hide.me is located in Malaysia for good reason.
Unlike other countries, Malaysia does not oblige IT companies to log customers’ online data. This allows hide.me to build a network that simply cannot store information about your online activity. No matter where in the world you are, you can be absolutely sure that your privacy is protected at the highest possible level.
hide.me also supports the widest variety of VPN protocols on the market, making it easy to achieve a high level of security encryption. Available protocols include IKEv2, OpenVPN and SSTP, which are commonly considered the most secure VPN protocols available. However, it is somewhat unusual that hide.me also supports Softether: an open source and very secure protocol developed in 2013.
Unfortunately, hide.me only has servers in 29 countries. Although there are servers on all major continents, the number of countries is disappointingly low when compared to other VPN providers we’ve rated.
Speed and reliability
With speed and reliability hide.me is good.
The wide selection of protocols and encryption levels prove a high degree of control over your VPN speed.
Obviously, higher encryption levels still have an effect on your Internet speed.
However, all hide.me servers can reach gigabit speeds. You can also see how much bandwidth is being used on each server so you can choose a server with less traffic. This makes your connection more reliable and maximizes speed, even at a higher encryption level.
Flexibility
hide.me assigns an anonymous IP address that is sent through an encrypted tunnel so that your Internet service provider can’t find out about your online activity. You can select up to AES-256 encryption. The level of encryption preferred by governments.
The IP address is randomly assigned. This means that you have no control over what it looks like. However, you can select the server location depending on the online content you want to access.
Although there are servers on the larger continents, only 29 countries are covered. That’s why hide.me’s flexibility is lower than that of the other VPN providers we’ve rated.
Customer support
The customer support of hide.me is excellent.
Before you commit to a purchase, you can ask an employee questions via live chat to get more information about the service. Click on the green ‘Ask us how it works’ tag in the lower right corner of the website and you will be immediately connected to a customer support representative, with no waiting time.
Setting up and troubleshooting your VPN is just as easy.
You’ll find detailed step-by-step instructions to set up your VPN. This includes manual setup guides and recommended settings for Windows, OSX, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and even Ubuntu. You’ll also find instructions on how to set up your router.
There’s also an active community forum where you can search for troubleshooting guides, ask questions, and get help with technical issues. The forum is very active and most issues are addressed within a few hours.
Unfortunately there is no live chat and no phone number you can call if you need technical help. If you don’t get a satisfactory answer in the forum, you will need to fill out a contact form and wait for an answer. However, the service is advertised with a 24/7 service and you can expect a response within a few hours.
Conclusion
hide.me is completely protocol-free and has a unique VPN protocol support. Even though the number of server locations is rather low, this is still the best choice if you care a lot about online privacy.